Diversity should be appreciating everyone’s differences. There is no reason for all of us to be the same – that is boring, so just celebrating those differences is a start.
A diversity office should celebrate differences but realize that we each are at a different stage of openness to differences. As Cabrini becomes more diverse, we need to find new ways to connect our differences to create a greater whole.
The diversity office at Cabrini is changing, trying to meet new challenges of ever-increasing diversity. But that change is happening throughout all diversity offices in all of higher education.
Some students at Cabrini say the diversity office is mostly for African-Americans, but when you look into the reality, it becomes clearer.
We students are Cabrini College. It is our responsibility to put our efforts into becoming a more diverse campus.
Students should take more initiative towards creating a more diverse campus.
There are two ways to look at diversity. One is to look at diversity merely as collections of numbers: so many African-Americans, so many Latinos, etc. But that is not true diversity. That is just separate groups who happen to attend the same college. True diversity is a goal we all need to work to achieve where we learn from, respect and support each other.
Over the past few years, Cabrini’s growth in diverse students has totally skyrocketed. By looking at the data and of those who come back to Cabrini, there is a need for programs for minorities to receive support.
Given the fact that Cabrini has a large growth in minorities, primarily African Americans, what does the diversity office need to do to reach out to other minorities?
A huge jump in African Americans and Latinos have created a much more diverse culture and our school is so much better for it. Now given the fact that Dr. Taylor is on record about how he wants to increase the Latino population, the college has to support all aspects of diversity. The whole college should be trying to retain students of all aspects of diversity.
It is the students’ responsibility to make sure that we are not isolating ourselves into cliques but are bringing our differences to form a new unity.
